by Jill Sanders
“A puzzle?” she asked, smiling down at the first box she pulled out of the bag.
“Among other things.” He sat across from her.
“What’s this?” She held up a deck of cards.
He smiled. “Read it.” He leaned closer and watched her eyes as she read. When they grew large, he smiled.
“These are…” She tucked the cards close to her and glanced around. “Sex cards,” she whispered.
He chuckled. “We’ll play with those later.” He took the cards from her and she dug into the bag again.
“I also got a handful of other games.” He motioned to her bookcase. “Since I know you can’t really read with a splitting headache…”
“I don’t…” She started to deny it, but since she’d been just rubbing her forehead, she shut her mouth. “Fine, I do. That’s why I was watching a movie.”
“Which you were completely bored with.”
“It was growing on me.” She shrugged.
“This will be much more fun.” He pulled out a board game. “What do you want to play first?”
She was still frowning at him, so he leaned forward and took her hand. “When I was eleven, I broke my leg at the beginning of summer. When most of my friends spent the hot summer days playing at the beach or at the local pool, I was stuck on the sofa. My grandmother bought me a bunch of games like this and turned my summer into one of the best that I can remember.” He shrugged. “You only have a week. I had five weeks of this. Give it a try.”
She smiled and nodded. “Okay, but I get to be the car.” She took the box from him and smiled.
For the next few hours, they played games. He found out quickly that Scarlett was extremely competitive and often reverted to cheating tactics to win. Of course, since she was using flirting as a diversion to distract him, he didn’t complain too much.
They were laughing about a word she’d just placed on the Scrabble board when Zoey walked in with their lunches.
“Your sister is a cheater,” he joked easily.
Zoey laughed. “Tell me about it.” She rolled her eyes. “She’s also a sore loser.”
He laughed. “I found that out with Monopoly.”
“Oh god, you didn’t play that with her, did you?” Zoey shook her head. “She buys everything.”
Levi laughed. “And she hordes the get-out-of-jail cards.”
“Yes.” Zoey smiled and set the bags down. “How are you feeling?” she asked Scarlett.
“Much better. I think I’ll be ready to—”
“Nope,” Zoey said quickly.
“But—”
“Nope. End of the week. That’s the doctor’s orders.” Zoey leaned closer. “And you do not want to piss off Lea. She may like you the best, but trust me when I say, she can be vicious if you don’t obey her directions.”
“How’s it going out there in the real world?” Scarlett asked, grabbing her sandwich from her sister.
“Busy, but nothing we can’t handle.” She sat next to Scarlett and took out her own sandwich. “We’ve filled in for each other before.” Zoey shrugged. “Jenny and her husband left last night.” Her eyes moved up to her sister’s.
“Did she say anything?” Scarlett asked.
“No, other than she tried to blame you and Levi for attacking her first. But since we had everything on video…” She shrugged. “They left town after paying a fine. I told them they wouldn’t be getting their deposit back.”
He’d forgotten that there were cameras installed in most of the campground’s major areas. Ever since the first big party, security had been key to the survival of the camp.
“I bet she didn’t care about that,” Scarlett said.
“Actually, she threw a fit about it.” Zoey rolled her eyes. “From what I hear, her husband handed Stuffit’s over to his oldest son a few years ago. Rumor is it that Jenny has flown through the old man’s fortune and the son won’t be giving them any more money any time soon.”
“Then why plan a vacation down here?” Levi asked.
“I bet she was just trying to rub our noses in her wealth while she still had some,” Scarlett said, setting down the rest of her sandwich. Levi could tell instantly that she was tired again.
“If you don’t have it, you shouldn’t spend it,” he commented. “Tired?” he asked Scarlett.
“Some.” She sighed and rested her head back against the sofa. “Beating you at games all morning has worn me out,” she said with a smile. Levi chuckled.
“I let you win.” He winked.
“I’ve got to get back to work.” Zoey stood up and cleaned up the mess. “Oh, there are two slices of pie in there for you. The kitchen staff sends their best,” Zoey added. “And now that the news is out that I’m eating for two”—she rubbed her flat belly—“I no longer have to beg for extra dessert.” She pulled out a large slice of pie and hugged it to her chest. “This one is for junior,” she said as she walked out.
“She is so going to milk this,” Scarlett said, putting her feet up on the sofa.
He walked over and placed a blanket over her.
“Lie down with me?” she asked, shifting the pillow under her head.
“I’ve got a few things to do.” He nodded to this computer. “I’ll be here, but I’ve got some research I want to do while you rest.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes. “Save my slice of pie for later.”
“No promises,” he teased, but she was already asleep.
While Scarlett slept, Levi got on online and did a quick search. He started out by researching everything he could about Jenny and her husband.
Zoey’s information seemed spot on. There were articles about the family problems, including a wedding photo of Jenny and the old man standing in a Vegas church, all alone. Jenny even looked drunk then.
When a camp reminder popped up about the school reunion for that weekend, he changed his search parameters.
It wasn’t the first time he’d looked through the old yearbooks online, searching for a face that matched his own. Or one that resembled it at least.
He’d seen plenty of pictures of his mother and her best friends. From what he could tell, her best friend had been a girl named Leslie Cummings. There were more than a dozen pictures of the two girls together over the years.
Which made sense, since they were in charge of the yearbook committee for their entire junior high years.
He’d searched for Leslie Cummings over the years but had come up blank. Whatever had happened to her, she’d left Pelican Point and never returned.
It didn’t stop him from looking. If he could find his mother’s best friend, maybe she could shed some light on who his father was and what had really happened that last day of his mother’s life.
The more he looked, the more frustrated and discouraged he grew. Would he ever know anything about either his father or his mother’s best friend?
He spent over an hour searching the pages of old yearbooks and school photos. When his eyes started hurting, he shut down his laptop and crawled under the blanket with Scarlett to shut down for a while.
They woke when someone came into the apartment.
“Sorry,” Aubrey said softly as he sat up quickly. “I was told to bring you this.” She set a large brown bag on the coffee table and he instantly smelled food.
“I’m going to gain so much weight this week,” Scarlett groaned, sitting up next to him.
“How are you feeling?” Aubrey asked as she sat down.
“Rested,” she answered and yawned. “And hungry again.”
“She didn’t finish her sandwich earlier,” Levi supplied. “Or touch her pie,” he reminded Scarlett.
“Right.” She pulled the bag towards her. “What’s on the menu tonight?”
“Steak,” Aubrey told them. “It was heavenly. “I’ve got to change and get ready for the dinner rush.”
“Oh.” Scarlett pouted. “It’s fifties night. I like fifties night.”
“You can go next
month,” Aubrey reminded her.
“Yeah, I suppose.” Scarlett pulled out a container and opened it. “I’m seriously going to gain weight if Betty keeps sending me up these desserts.”
Aubrey laughed. “I’m sure Zoey can take them off your hands if you want. She’s totally milking this pregnancy thing. She had double dessert for lunch.” Aubrey got up and headed towards her room.
“Did you get enough sleep?” he asked Scarlett when they were alone.
“Yes.” She set the container down. “I’m not even hungry.” She looked up at him. “You know what? I could use a walk.” She stood up and he followed her, realizing his legs were a little stiff as well.
“Let’s do it.” He held out his hand for hers.
“We’d better put the food away so we can enjoy it later.” She took the bag and walked into the kitchen. He helped her put everything away before grabbing a light jacket for her.
“It’s probably eighty degrees out.” She laughed.
“Humor me.” He shrugged. “I didn’t like seeing you shiver when you were in shock.”
She took the jacket and wrapped it around her waist. They walked two full circles around the campground’s pathways, talking about the camp and how likely it was that Jenny would return for more revenge.
“I mean, look at what happened with Ryan. The woman was nuts,” Scarlett said as they headed back towards the main building.
“I’m not denying that, but security is a lot tighter around here now. Jenny is now on the no-go list.”
Scarlett chuckled. “I just love knowing that she can no longer step foot in the place she used to spend all her summers at.”
He stopped and pulled her into his arms. “Revenge is sometimes sweetest when it’s a backlash to someone trying to dish it out.”
“True. If she hadn’t been drunk at the pool and pushed me, she and her husband would still be here for another three days, showing off all their wealth. We would be ignorant to the fact that she married a man three times her age just to spend all of his money.” She sighed. “I guess a concussion was worth it.”
“No.” He shook his head as his entire body tensed at the thought. “I never want to see you like that again.”
She leaned her head against his chest. “Okay, maybe not. But still, I’m glad she won’t be coming back here.”
“I moved my days off to match yours,” he told her out of the blue. “I’m hoping to spend them with you.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled up at him. “Since I’m not supposed to do anything too strenuous, I think we can spend the entire time inside…”—she leaned up and kissed him—“playing other games that I’m really good at.”
He chuckled. “That sounds like a plan.” He kissed her.
They walked back towards the main building, hand in hand.
When they passed the boat house, they heard arguing and turned to see Aubrey storm towards them.
“Is everything okay?” Scarlett asked, concerned.
“Yes.” Aubrey looked jittery. “I just…” She glanced around. “Yes, everything is fine.” She marched away, heading towards the main building.
“What was that all about?” Levi asked Scarlett.
“I’m not…” She stopped and glanced over when she heard hammering. They both moved over to see Aiden hammering a new piece of two-by-four into the dock. The way he was swinging the hammer told them both that he was pissed. “Interesting,” Scarlett said as she tugged him back onto the path and towards the building.
“Are they…” he started to ask, looking over his shoulder.
“No, not officially.”
He thought about it for a moment. “Are we official?”
She chuckled and pulled him to a stop. “I think any couple would be official after what you did.”
He held onto her and took a deep breath, enjoying her soft scent, the way she felt in his arms, and the feel of her next to him. “I did what any man would have.”
“Not that. Although, you did win major brownie points for jumping in and saving me. Zoey showed me the video.” She shivered. “It’s strange to see yourself being pulled out of the water unconscious.”
He’d seen the video too. Brett had wanted him to confirm what was being said during the silent footage.
“What then?” he asked, pulling her a little closer.
“What you said to me,” she hinted.
He smiled instantly. “I love you.”
She slowly swallowed and then nodded. “Yeah, that.”
“I’ll get you to say it back to me someday,” he promised. As a response, she rested her head on his shoulder. “But only when you’re ready,” he promised. “Come on, we’d better go enjoy our dinner and desserts before your sister finds them and gobbles them up.”
Chapter Twenty-One
It was strange. Over the next two days Scarlett didn’t even really miss work. If Levi wasn’t keeping her busy by playing games with her, then one of her friends was entertaining her in one way or the other. She took more leisurely walks than she normally would have and ate more desserts as well.
She was expecting that by the time she was back at full capacity, she was going to be five pounds heavier than before she’d been pushed into the pool.
On the night of the big reunion party, everyone, including Lea, agreed that she was able to help with decorations. The campground guests’ dinner hour had been moved up and, after the last couple left the dining hall, work on decorating for the bigger party began.
Of course, she’d been given the job of filling all the balloons using the large helium canister Elle had purchased after their first party balloon fiasco.
How were they supposed to know that blowing up two hundred balloons would take so long and almost cause the five friends to pass out? Besides, helium balloons were so much better than ones that laid on the ground. So Scarlett sat in a chair and filled balloons and tied different colored strings to each one.
They even had a net of sorts that she could let the balloons drift up into afterwards. The job was mindless and boring.
Still, she was out of the apartment, and she was able to watch the other elaborate decorations going up around the main dining hall and talk to the other employees.
An extra benefit was being able to watch Levi lift and hang the heavier decorations. It was so fun to watch the man move. Clothes or no clothes, the guy set off her sex meter. Let’s face facts, Levi broke her sex meter.
“Pay attention.” Zoey moved over and poked her in the arm. “You’re going to—”
Too late. The balloon she’d been filling popped, causing both of them to jump and squeal at the same time.
“That’s the third one in the last five minutes,” Zoey complained.
“Sorry.” Scarlett tossed it in the trash and started on a new one.
“Enough torture.” Zoey grabbed the deflated balloon from her hands. “I’m sure we can have you working on something else.” She glanced around and smiled. “Aubrey could use some help folding napkins.” She motioned towards the bar area.
Scarlett groaned.
“Hey, don’t blame me. Everyone’s tired of jumping each time you get busy watching your man work and end up literally popping something.” She laughed and nudged Scarlett towards the bar. “Go.” Her sister sat down and took her place.
Scarlett made her way across the dining hall, enjoying the streamers and decorations that were already in place.
“Hey,” Levi said as she passed him. “Did your sister kick you off balloon duty?”
“Yes.” She frowned.
“Good. I’m up on a ladder here. Every time you popped one, I almost lost my footing.”
“Sorry.” She frowned, suddenly concerned about him being up so high.
He chuckled, then rolled his eyes as another balloon popped.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, moving down the ladder towards her.
“I’m one hundred percent,” she said, knowing it was the truth. Even the bu
mp on the back of her head was completely gone. She still had a slight bruise on her hip, but it was a nasty shade of green and yellow, which meant, in a day or two, it would be gone completely.
“Good.” He turned his attention towards Liam, who was holding the other end of the string of lights they were placing. “Gotta concentrate,” he told her and moved back up the ladder. “My boss is a real…”
At that moment, Hannah moved over and yelled at the pair of them for putting the lights in the wrong place.
Scarlett chuckled.
“What are you doing?” Hannah turned to her. “Why aren’t you…” She glanced around and, after seeing Zoey filling balloons, she motioned towards the bar. “Help Aubrey.”
“Yes, sir.” Scarlett gave Hannah a quick salute, and then shuffled off before she was yelled at again.
“Every party we have, she turns into a drill Sargent,” Aubrey whispered as Scarlett sat next to her.
“True.” Scarlett chuckled as Hannah continued to boss everyone around. “But you’ve gotta admit, she throws some of the best damn parties around.”
“Agreed.” Aubrey smiled.
“So,” Scarlett started after a few minutes of silence, “want to tell me what that was all about the other night? With Aiden?”
Aubrey stiffened, then glanced around the dining hall quickly.
“He’s not here. He’s working out at Owen’s neighborhood job site,” Scarlett supplied.
“Nothing,” Aubrey said as she kept her eyes turned downwards.
“Nothing?” Scarlett lowered her voice. “All that yelling wasn’t about nothing.”
Aubrey sighed. “Have you ever liked someone… that doesn’t like you the same way?”
She was about to say no, but then shut her mouth and nodded instead. After all, for those first few days with Levi, back when she’d been a teenager, she’d believed he hadn’t even known she was alive.
Not to mention the past two years of skirting around him. She hadn’t even admitted to herself that she liked Levi during that time, until recently.
“You like Aiden?” she asked.
“I can’t.” Aubrey sighed. “I mean, I thought I did, but…” She shook her head. “It’s just… I can’t,” she repeated.